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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445527">On the job training</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnus Archives (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, I love Jon I just like making fun of him, canon typical season 1 jon, flash fanwork challenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25445527</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jon trusted Elias when he said he didn't need any additional training for the job. Still, he should probably look up exactly what an archivist does. Just to make sure.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On the job training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a response to the flash fanwork prompt "train." You can find the challenge at magnus-mailday on dreamwidth.</p><p>Also, this fic is meant to gently poke at s1 Jon, who was very scared and very out of his depth. His denials were also occasionally amusing, as was his reaction in s3 when Georgie pointed out he had no qualifications. It is meant with love.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“When he hired me, he was vague on the point of what happened to my predecessor, Gertrude Robinson. I asked if she would be available to train me up for a handover, but he simply said she had passed away and not to worry about it overmuch.” - Episode 11: Dreamer</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Elias, is there any training you want me to do before taking on the position?” Jon did his best to look professional. Attempting to stand up a bit straighter and keep still, he tried to give off a sort of dispassionate competence. He wanted to give Elias every impression that he had made a good decision in giving him the job. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In truth, he felt rather excited. He had been working at the Institute without much in the way of advancement for years. Therefore, being called into Elias’s office and being offered the archivist position without so much as an interview had come as a bit of a surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, Elias had said that Jon was ideal for the position based on his experience. Jon basked in the feeling of being recognised, but he had to admit that he was a little nervous. Probably best not to let that show. After all, he was actually about to have people working under him. He had to maintain a proper sort of a face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, not to worry, Jon. I think you’ll find that the archivist job tends to provide plenty of...on the job training. I’ll keep an eye out for any professional development opportunities, but I’m sure you won’t miss the mark. You’ll start Monday as we’ve discussed,” Elias replied, blandly professional as always. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he returned to his flat that night, ecstatic that Tim and Sasha had agreed to a transfer, he started worrying again. After all, he had had very little contact with the archives. Hardly any of the researchers had. And honestly, he wasn’t exactly sure what went on down there or even what precisely his job would be. As prestigious as the position was in the institute, the archives always sort of stayed separate from the other departments. He had never even met his predecessor. However, he hadn’t wanted to ask Elias too many questions in case it made him look incompetent, and there certainly wasn’t anyone else in the institute he could ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily, Google really was a wonder of the modern age. Sitting on his bed cross legged with his laptop, he sheepishly typed </span>
  <em>
    <span>What does an archivist do?</span>
  </em>
  <span> He was very grateful no one could see him right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Elsewhere, Elias very nearly laughed before turning the laugh into a slight smirk. Even if no one was currently watching him, he had an image to maintain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If his carefully laid out plan failed, he could at least take comfort that the next few years promised some quality entertainment.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After scrolling through several university advertisements, Jon clicked on a promising site called archives.org.uk and started to read. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>In the course of business lots of organisations and people accumulate archives. These include government agencies, local authorities, universities, hospitals, museums, businesses, charities, professional organisations, families and individuals.</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Archives may be books or papers, maps or plans, photographs or prints, films, tapes or videos, or computer generated records. Archives are intended to be kept permanently, to preserve the past and allow others to discover it. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon didn’t really see the point of preserving a bunch of mostly fictitious ghost stories, and he doubted many others would be discovering it. To his knowledge, few within the institute ever referenced the archives. The archives were generally the place information went once the researchers felt they could do nothing more with it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, the archives the institute had managed to gather over the years were immense, and being placed in charge of them was an honor that Jon intended to take seriously.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It is the job of the archivist to preserve and exploit this archival heritage and the information contained within it. This includes assisting users and answering enquiries, promotional work including exhibitions, presentations or media work, as well as the curatorial skills of selecting, arranging and cataloguing archives. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>This sounded more like it was for a museum. Jon didn’t see himself setting up any exhibitions any time soon.  Still, maybe Gertrude’s incompetence lay behind the lack of communication from the department. Once he had gotten the archives into some sort of order, perhaps he could work on improving how the rest of the institute interacted with the department.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On second thought, it might be better to give that job to one of his assistants. Maybe Tim. In uni, whenever Jon had to give presentations he normally felt they’d gone very well, only for him to be told that they’d been too dry or too confrontational.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cataloguing part sounded more appealing. As much as he knew he’d have an awful mess to sort through, the thought of digging through the nonsense and recording it actually sounded rather peaceful. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>In addition, archivists at a more senior level will also carry out management tasks as they take control of budgets, staff and strategy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon once again worried about the fact that he would be in charge of other staff. His one blessing was that he looked much older than he was, and he knew that when he watched how he spoke that effect only increased. He hoped he’d be able to gain his new employees respect in time. Establishing himself as a sceptical, rational individual should help with that. He had years of practice hiding much bigger fears than this.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Archivists can gain immense job satisfaction from the variety of tasks they are involved in; handling items hundreds of years old and widening access to heritage.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>That sounded more like artifact storage, a place where Jon had always told himself he would never work. He never wanted to handle actual items like Leitners ever again. However, he was immensely grateful that the institute’s archives mainly consisted of dusty old pieces of paper with stories written on them. Those had to be harmless, right? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next section of the website listed a few skills that it claimed would be relevant. He wondered how many actually would be in the future. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>The Skills</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To work as an archivist you must be committed to customer service as well as heritage and information management. Archivists also need to be:</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>good with people:</b><span> archivists meet and work with many different people and need the ability to relate to and encourage them all </span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>Typical corporate nonsense. Jon had managed thus far in life without being “good with people” and he doubted that would change now.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Three months later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, Elias. Considering the ghost story she’d told him, he had really been very kind to Naomi. Jon was glad he didn’t have to deal with people in his job more often.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One year and a half later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Was this intervention really necessary?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Two years later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>It felt like every time he met someone new, they wanted to kill him. Granted, a lot of them were evil, but Jon wondered what it said about him.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Two and a half years later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>This intervention was definitely necessary, and they were right. He was a monster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was it any wonder no one wanted him around? </span>
</p><p>
  <b>An uncountable amount of time later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>As they walked between the domains, Jon squeezed Martin’s hand lightly. Martin squeezed back and gave him a small smile. Jon would never be good with people as a whole, but maybe it was enough to be good with one person. It certainly felt like enough.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>forward thinking</b><span>: our demands for and use of information are constantly changing: archivists need to be able to anticipate these changes and to prepare to meet the challenges they bring</span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>Anything Jon did at this point would be moving the archives forward. Anything would be an improvement over the giant mess that existed there now.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>A few weeks later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Simply discrediting the vast majority of this nonsense would make the archives that much more useful. Although he liked his job at the institute, some individuals there were far too willing to accept any spooky story born of a bad trip. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>A year and a half later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Explosives were apparently a very important part of archival work. Let it never be said Jon was too stuck in his ways to accept new ideas.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>An uncountable amount of time later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Forward didn’t have much meaning, anymore, but that was what he had. So Jon kept moving forward. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>logical</b><span>: archives need identifying and sorting before they can be effectively interpreted or used</span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jon nodded to himself, feeling slightly more confident. He prided himself on being logical. That at least was one skill he didn’t need to worry about.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Four months later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>“...so there is very likely a perfectly natural explanation for the fact that his body was completely encased in web.”</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One year later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Martin was right. Pretending to not believe in any of the statements might not make him look particularly logical at times.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One year + a few weeks later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Martin kept being nice to him and making him tea. Clearly, he wanted to kill Jon.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One and a half years later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Telling Tim and Martin to go home because he was sick made perfect sense. Until he actually said it out loud. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Two years later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t that he didn’t realise that making decisions on his own was an issue, but there was no one to go to. He knew the thing with Jared and his rib was a risk, and he knew going into the coffin wasn’t the smartest move. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it wasn’t always about being logical, though. It was the right thing to do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>An uncountable amount of time later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon was perfectly logical. He knew the world was lost, and nothing would fix it. But Martin still believed it could be fixed, and seeing him believe almost made Jon believe too. Maybe he could just keep going, keep not being logical, for just a little while longer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>able to undertake research</b><span>: archivists are not researchers but may occasionally need to research in order to interpret archives; an understanding of research skills is also helpful for advising users. An interest in history is often advantageous, although many archivists possess degrees in other disciplines</span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thought that additional research on statements would largely be given to his assistants, but it was good to know that his previous skills would be useful. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Three months later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon wondered if perhaps the research he delegated to his assistants resulting in an above average amount of illegal activity. However, except for Martin, they were very good at acquiring information about the statements, so he found he really didn’t care. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>One year and a few weeks later: </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Going through the tunnels had to count as research. So did digging through the trash to find Martin’s poetry. Jon had never realised how many applications of his research skills existed. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>A year and a half later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>The more he learned, the more he didn’t understand. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>An uncountable amount of time later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Once upon a time, Jon had thought his research abilities would be his most useful skill in becoming the archivist. It turns out, he doesn’t really need to research anything anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had once genuinely loved research, but he doesn’t miss it. He wished he didn’t like having all this knowledge right at his fingertips so much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>comfortable with new technology</b><span>: you will need to demonstrate the ability to use and adapt to rapidly evolving ICT (Information Communication Technology) packages and systems.</span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jon had no clue what this meant. He planned on digitising the archives though, so that must be part of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One week later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeing as certain statements didn’t interact well with up-to-date technology, this certainly wasn’t relevant.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Two weeks later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Tape recorders counted as new technology, right? </span>
</p><p> </p>
<ul>
<li><em><b>committed to professional development</b><span>: archivists need to be prepared to continue their development after qualification, acquiring management skills and skills which enable them to play a full part in the development of the heritage sector</span></em></li>
</ul><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Elias hadn’t seemed overly concerned when Jon had brought up professional development, so Jon decided he wasn’t either. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Three months later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon had requested to attend various seminars about archival work, but Elias had dismissed them as irrelevant. All for the best, really. Jon hated networking.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>One year later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>From a certain point of view, breaking into places and spying on people was basically developing his research skills. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>1.5 years later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>His ability to not die while kidnapped should at this point count as a professional skill that really didn’t need any more development.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Saving the world should probably count as a skill too, if not one he would have originally thought of as part of the job.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>An uncountable amount of time later:</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon laughed bitterly. He supposed Elias had been interested in his “professional development” after all. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>The Qualifications</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To become an archivist you need a first degree (subject not strictly relevant) and a postgraduate qualification recognised by the Archives and Records Association</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Nobody had the qualifications that they were supposed to have these days. Otherwise, why would so many entry level jobs ask for years of experience? The official qualification was probably just for government positions or something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jon closed his computer feeling slightly more confident. He knew he had at least some of the skills listed, and the others hardly sounded relevant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still wasn’t sure exactly what an archivist was supposed to do, but he was sure he would be fine. After all, if he wasn’t capable, why would Elias have chosen him for the job?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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